Norv: Don't expect the Chargers to make the playoffs next season

Ex-head coach says it's possible, but it should be greeted as surprise

Norv Turner has heard people say the Chargers are a quick fix, that they're close to solving their roster issues, that this three-year playoff drought can end next year.

He's heard people expect the 2013 Chargers to make the playoffs.

His message in his final San Diego media conference: don't.

Turner was fired Monday, and afterward, he discussed the overall deficiencies he sees in the roster and the work that lies ahead.

"Someone wrote a few weeks ago that this team is not that far away from the playoffs," Turner said. "I would disagree. I know the things that would have to get done for that to happen. If this team comes next year and they get some things done to help them get better and are able to make the playoffs, I would hope it would be a surprise to all the Chargers fans, and they would be excited about it.

"I would hope it would not be the expectation starting in August because I think you need to give whoever the guy who comes in here and the group he brings in some time to get back this thing back to where it was."

San Diego made the playoffs in Turner's first three seasons as head coach before being shut out the past three.

Turner said he thinks the Chargers were the most talented team in the AFC West those first three seasons and not the most talented team in the most recent.

"We've had too many changes," Turner said. "We've lost too many people."

Turner referenced his first head coaching tenure with the Redskins.

Washington made the playoffs in 1999, his sixth year there, going 10-6 and winning in the wild-card round before losing in the divisional. Turner was fired 13 games into the 2000 season with a 7-6 record.

The Redskins have made the playoffs three times since, in 2005, 2007 and 2012.

"And they thought they had Super Bowl talent in 2000," Turner said. "...Every team thinks they have the best team. I think the lesson I know, and I've known it for a long time, evaluate your own players; keep your best best players. Evaluate your own players and understand who can and who can't.

"There aren't any quick fixes. Free agency is not the way to go. It's to supplement. You have to draft well, and you have to keep your best players."

I didn't care what Norv said when he was the coach, and don't give a rats *** what he has to say now.

With that said, we will need a 2004 type offseason where we completely revamped the O-line with a mix of drafting well (Hardwick and Olivea), trades (Oben), free agency (Goff), and internal guys stepping up (Dielman). If Hardwick comes back, and they re-sign Vasquez, they will only need to replace 3 spots which does make it a little easier than 04. Fix the line, and we are competing for the division next year, even if no other major additions are made, at least in my opinion

I didn't care what Norv said when he was the coach, and don't give a rats *** what he has to say now.

With that said, we will need a 2004 type offseason where we completely revamped the O-line with a mix of drafting well (Hardwick and Olivea), trades (Oben), free agency (Goff), and internal guys stepping up (Dielman). If Hardwick comes back, and they re-sign Vasquez, they will only need to replace 3 spots which does make it a little easier than 04. Fix the line, and we are competing for the division next year, even if no other major additions are made, at least in my opinion

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Norv is an idiot. I agree completely all of our problems are fixable, and not to keep pushing for Arians....but look what he had for talent on the Colts O-line, and the Steelers the years before. The guy has ways of making average O-linemen look good.

And really thats all it comes down to, because Philip Rivers (though a statue) keeps proving he can be a good QB when he has time to throw. And our defense has an extremely impressive and young core of guys, they just need a few touch ups at CB and some depth here and there.

Norv is an idiot. I agree completely all of our problems are fixable, and not to keep pushing for Arians....but look what he had for talent on the Colts O-line, and the Steelers the years before. The guy has ways of making average O-linemen look good.

And really thats all it comes down to, because Philip Rivers (though a statue) keeps proving he can be a good QB when he has time to throw. And our defense has an extremely impressive and young core of guys, they just need a few touch ups at CB and some depth here and there.

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We will absolutely need a better line coach, and I really hope they make major improvements with our trainers and strength and conditioning coaches. That will help who ever our new HC is, but I also would like to see Arians get a shot, although as Norv proved, being a good coordinator doesn't make someone a good HC. Even if Arians in the guy, I hope he hires a good OC to handle the X's and O's as I don't want any new HC calling plays on either side of the ball

Norv can go F himself after what he came out with yesterday, he is full of it. Good riddance. Classy my u know what. Pity he couldn't admit what is the truth ie. he is not a HC period. Imho I'm not even sure how good an O coordinator he is any more.

Norv is an idiot. I agree completely all of our problems are fixable, and not to keep pushing for Arians....but look what he had for talent on the Colts O-line, and the Steelers the years before. The guy has ways of making average O-linemen look good.

And really thats all it comes down to, because Philip Rivers (though a statue) keeps proving he can be a good QB when he has time to throw. And our defense has an extremely impressive and young core of guys, they just need a few touch ups at CB and some depth here and there.

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We have a ton of holes on this team...... if you can't see that, then you haven't been paying attention.

We have a ton of holes on this team...... if you can't see that, then you haven't been paying attention.

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All teams have holes. That doesn't mean they can't be filled.

This team, with all its holes, could have easily been a 14-2 team this year with only slightly better play in all but 2 of the losses.

Yeah, I'm well aware of the cliche involved with "ifs and buts", but that doesn't negate the fact. I don't think this team is as far off as you make it sound, even if I do fully agree with your remark about letting talent walk.

This team, with all its holes, could have easily been a 14-2 team this year with only slightly better play in all but 2 of the losses.

Yeah, I'm well aware of the cliche involved with "ifs and buts", but that doesn't negate the fact. I don't think this team is as far off as you make it sound, even if I do fully agree with your remark about letting talent walk.

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Really?...... we need to rebuild the O-line. That isn't done in a single year. We are losing even more starters after this year. Off the top of my head, Spikes, Phillips, Jammer, Cason, Franklin, McMichael, Brown..... the list goes on.

We may have some younger guys who can start (Wright for sure), but you'll need quality depth behind them, in case they fail, or get hurt. I can't think of a recent season where he had more holes to fill.

We have a ton of holes on this team...... if you can't see that, then you haven't been paying attention.

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Are we great at every position, hell no. But fix the OL, and it resolves a lot of our issues on offense. To think we cannot fix our issues this offseason, is irrational. We are not Jacksonville. We have HUGE issues on the OL, and need some help at CB and RB. But outside of that, we are good enough across the rest of the field to compete in the NFL

Really?...... we need to rebuild the O-line. That isn't done in a single year. We are losing even more starters after this year. Off the top of my head, Spikes, Phillips, Jammer, Cason, Franklin, McMichael, Brown..... the list goes on.

We may have some younger guys who can start (Wright for sure), but you'll need quality depth behind them, in case they fail, or get hurt. I can't think of a recent season where he had more holes to fill.

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Did we not fix all 5 line spots in 04? We don;t need to replace all 5 this year, we need 3 unless Hardwick decides to retire. We can absolutely rebuild the line in one offseason

Really?...... we need to rebuild the O-line. That isn't done in a single year. We are losing even more starters after this year. Off the top of my head, Spikes, Phillips, Jammer, Cason, Franklin, McMichael, Brown..... the list goes on.

We may have some younger guys who can start (Wright for sure), but you'll need quality depth behind them, in case they fail, or get hurt. I can't think of a recent season where he had more holes to fill.

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Did you see me disagreeing anywhere with your argument that we have holes to fill?

Did we not fix all 5 line spots in 04? We don;t need to replace all 5 this year, we need 3 unless Hardwick decides to retire. We can absolutely rebuild the line in one offseason

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So, you're going to use the entire draft to fix the O-line..... and start a rookie line? Good luck.

Good O-line FAs don't come cheap. If you go that route, you'll run out of cap space fast. Remember, we need new CBs, ILBs, and a SS too, if not another NT. And that's on your claimed area of strength, the defense.

So, you're going to use the entire draft to fix the O-line..... and start a rookie line? Good luck.

Good O-line FAs don't come cheap. If you go that route, you'll run out of cap space fast. Remember, we need new CBs, ILBs, and a SS too, if not another NT. And that's on your claimed area of strength, the defense.

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If you approach our chances of winning on the basis of whether or not they're strong at every position you'll think we don't stand a chance every year.

We need new CBs....we didn't really have any good ones this year either.

We need new offensive linemen....we had horrible ones this year.

We need ILBs?.... we didn't really have any this year

We need a SS? .... we didn't really have one this year

And despite all of that, this team still could have been a playoff team with better coaching.

My point being, they don't need to adequately fill all of those holes to be able to compete at a high level. The top priority for me is filling the offensive line.

Norv's point was that there's a lot of work to do, regarding the roster. Some people took that as a potshot and classless thing to say...... it's the truth. Sometimes, the truth hurts.

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I agree. When I read it, I didn't see it as a potshot against the team or the players. He was just saying to the fans that they shouldn't necessarily believe all of the media hype in believing that we're just shy of a postseason. With ridiculous competition coming out of Denver now it will take a LOT of work to play past December. He was just being honest, and I'm sure the players know it too.

So, you're going to use the entire draft to fix the O-line..... and start a rookie line? Good luck.

Good O-line FAs don't come cheap. If you go that route, you'll run out of cap space fast. Remember, we need new CBs, ILBs, and a SS too, if not another NT. And that's on your claimed area of strength, the defense.

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Since when is the draft they only tool in the offseason? In 04, we drafted 2 starters, traded for 1, signed 1 free agent, and promoted an internal guy to replace all 5 OL.

Those are all positions we very well can address in the draft and FA. I am not saying it will be easy, but I am saying it isn't impossible. We don't need super stars at any of those positions, we need good role players, like we got in 04 when we signed free agents like Foley, Godfrey, and Goff

We have a ton of holes on this team...... if you can't see that, then you haven't been paying attention.

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Bullshit. I see a team that won 7 games despite having the 31st ranked offense in the league...something Norv is responsible for.

Meachem catches that ball in Cleveland............................8 wins.
Hold a 24 point lead at home against Denver....................9 wins.
4th and 29............................................................................10 wins
We also blew 4th quarter leads against New Orleans, Cincinnati, and Tampa Bay.

And don't exaggerate my point, I'm not saying this is still the 2006 Chargers roster, I'm saying this team was competitive for half the game, and completely inept in 2nd halves all year long even in wins. Which is a COACHING problem, it says Norv is getting outsmarted in half time adjustments.

There is not a fan base in this league who thinks they have a perfect roster, but our major problems (OT, OG, CB) are fixable in one offseason.

Furthermore, I don't think anybody in here is suggesting this team could be transformed into the New England Patriots in one offseason. Hell, I don't think anybody in here is suggesting they can be transformed into the 2006, or even 2009 Chargers in one offseason.

The only thing I'm saying is that it is not outside the realm of reasonable possibilities and expectations that this team could contend for the playoffs next year with some offseason adjustments and better coaching.

I agree. When I read it, I didn't see it as a potshot against the team or the players. He was just saying to the fans that they shouldn't necessarily believe all of the media hype in believing that we're just shy of a postseason. With ridiculous competition coming out of Denver now it will take a LOT of work to play past December. He was just being honest, and I'm sure the players know it too.

Now, the Super Bowl ring? Definitely a dig on AJ haha.

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I didn't either, I just don't give a **** what Norv has to say, didn't when he was the HC, and definitely don't now that he is gone

Really, knowing how the media works, it probably wasn't a potshot at all. He was likely just answering a question, and then the reporter rushed to his computer so he can stir up controversy (re: hits) by telling the whole world that Norv is dissing his old team.

If you approach our chances of winning on the basis of whether or not they're strong at every position you'll think we don't stand a chance every year.

We need new CBs....we didn't really have any good ones this year either.

We need new offensive linemen....we had horrible ones this year.

We need ILBs?.... we didn't really have any this year

We need a SS? .... we didn't really have one this year

And despite all of that, this team still could have been a playoff team with better coaching.

My point being, they don't need to adequately fill all of those holes to be able to compete at a high level. The top priority for me is filling the offensive line.

Whether or not that happens remains to be seen.

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No, we failed not because of coaching, we failed because the players couldn't make plays when it counted. Do you really think that it was bad coaching that allowed Ray Rice to run 29 yards through defense to keep the Ravens' winning drive alive? No, it was players who were too old and slow to catch Rice (Spikes and Williams) or too stupid (or cowardly) to leave their man and go help on the play (Cason). There's a serious lack of athleticism on the interior of our defense, outside of Butler and Weddle.

If you continue to collapse at the end of games, it's because your personnel can't hold up for an entire game. Eventually the weakness of your team gets exploited, and you fail.

Bullshit. I see a team that won 7 games despite having the 31st ranked offense in the league...something Norv is responsible for.

Meachem catches that ball in Cleveland............................8 wins.
Hold a 24 point lead at home against Denver....................9 wins.
4th and 29............................................................................10 wins
We also blew 4th quarter leads against New Orleans, Cincinnati, and Tampa Bay.

And don't exaggerate my point, I'm not saying this is still the 2006 Chargers roster, I'm saying this team was competitive for half the game, and completely inept in 2nd halves all year long even in wins. Which is a COACHING problem, it says Norv is getting outsmarted in half time adjustments.

There is not a fan base in this league who thinks they have a perfect roster, but our major problems (OT, OG, CB) are fixable in one offseason.

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Was it coaching that made Meachem drop the ball?........ no.

Face it Matty, in the end, either the players execute the plays, or they don't.